An inexplicable terror surged into Takeda Masao's heart, instantly washing away the last vestiges of his drunkenness.

He stared intently at the "Natsume Masahiro" before him.

That face was undeniably familiar, the timid, yellow-haired youth he knew so well.

Yet, at this moment, it gave him an unprecedented sense of unfamiliarity.

The state the other party displayed, that aura of disregard for life, was completely different from the Natsume Masahiro he knew before.

Takeda Masao suddenly realized.

"You... you're not Natsume Masahiro! Who exactly are you?!"

Facing Takeda Masao's questioning, Zhou Huai merely gave him a faint glance.

He couldn't be bothered to explain anything to these soon-to-be-dead pieces of trash.

For Zhou Huai, his infiltration had only one principle of action.

Since it was an infiltration, he had to perfectly maintain his persona.

Whoever broke their persona, he would break them.

As long as all those in the know were dead.

Then his persona had not been broken.

A logical closed-loop, flawless.

"Who I am isn't important."

Zhou Huai's voice was chillingly calm; he slowly raised his right hand and snapped his fingers crisply.

"What's important is, it's time for you to go."

As for Natsume Rinku's whereabouts, Zhou Huai didn't need to waste words interrogating them.

In his mental perception network, the signal source representing the Parasite within Natsume Rinku was now as clear as a lighthouse in the dark night.

The location was on the top floor of this Palace of Ultimate Bliss.

The next second.

"Buzz—!!!"

A dense, hair-raising sound of buzzing wings erupted without warning in the small space of the private room.

Countless black specks, like a bursting dam, surged frantically from Zhou Huai's sleeves, collar, and even the shadows beneath his feet.

Those were thousands of Soldier Beetles!

They were not the Shadow Demon Worms used for self-detonation before, but Caesar's sharpest and most brutal eating machines!

Each Soldier Beetle was only the size of a fingernail, but their metallic-sheened mandibles were sharp enough to bite through steel.

"Ah—! What are these things?!"

"Bugs! So many bugs!"

The private room instantly descended into chaos.

Takeda Masao and his subordinates screamed in terror, instinctively wanting to escape or pull out their weapons to resist.

The skinny subordinate who had just tried to make a move had only just condensed a faint fireball in his palm.

Zhou Huai's mind stirred.

The xenomorphic parasites lurking within them instantly attacked!

"Ugh ah!"

Their bodies stiffened abruptly, and their eyes instantly became hollow and vacant.

The Parasites inside them forcibly severed their brains' control over their bodies, freezing them in place like stiff sculptures.

They could only watch helplessly as the black tide of insects, like a black tsunami, instantly engulfed them.

"Buzz buzz buzz—"

A teeth-grinding gnawing sound arose; it was the sound of countless sharp teeth chewing flesh and grinding bones.

Compared to the Shadow Demon Worms, Caesar's Soldier Beetles were many times more efficient in terms of "cleanup."

This was an extremely terrifying form of torture.

Takeda Masao's eyes widened in horror; he clearly felt hundreds of thousands of beetles crawling all over his corpulent body.

Intense pain?

No, there wasn't even time to feel intense pain.

It was the numbness of nerves being instantly devoured.

He watched his arm, the layers of greasy fat disappearing at a visible rate under the black swarm of insects, revealing stark white bones, and then even the bones were bitten and swallowed by those greedy mandibles.

"Help... help me..."

He tried to let out one last wail, but a Soldier Beetle instantly burrowed into his mouth, biting off his tongue.

In just a few breaths.

The private room returned to silence.

The once arrogant Takeda Masao and his boisterous subordinates had now completely vanished from this world.

Not even a single strand of hair or a speck of bone remained.

Even the blood splattered on the floor and sofa was licked clean by the still-hungry Soldier Beetles.

This was the horror of the "Swarm Calamity."

Where they passed, not a blade of grass grew.

"Ah—!!! Murder!!!"

The dancers huddled in the corner had witnessed this terrifying, Hell-like scene with their own eyes.

They could no longer control their inner fear, letting out ear-piercing screams and rushing madly towards the private room door.

Zhou Huai frowned slightly.

He turned his head, looking at their panicked retreating figures, his eyes devoid of any ripple.

"My apologies."

"You are also in the know."

He looked at these trembling women, a hint of regret flashing in his eyes.

"Although you are innocent."

"It's just that you have bad luck."

Zhou Huai never considered himself a bleeding heart.

In such a high-risk environment, infiltrating enemy territory, any bit of mercy could become the grave that buried him.

"Buzz—"

The swarm, hovering in mid-air, moved again.

They were like black reapers' scythes, mercilessly harvesting the remaining lives.

The screams abruptly ceased.

Just a few seconds later.

The entire private room completely returned to calm.

At the same time.

Top floor of the Palace of Ultimate Bliss.

Natsume Rinku was roughly thrown onto the circular bed, large enough for five or six people, by a middle-aged man.

The soft down comforter made her body bounce once, then sink into it. A great fear, like a cold hand, clutched her heart tightly.

Natsume Rinku wept, her delicate shoulders trembling violently.

"Please... please let me go..."

She curled up, desperately retreating to the corner of the bed, her voice full of desperate pleas.

By the bed, the middle-aged man in a silk bathrobe unhurriedly untied his belt, licked his chapped lips, his eyes burning with murky and naked desire.

He chuckled, the fat on his face jiggling: "Let you go?"

"Little one, I spent 200,000 Sakura Coins, real money, to buy you."

The man approached step by step, like a fat cat toying with a mouse.

"Don't worry, you're so cute, I wouldn't hurt you."

He sat on the edge of the bed, and the mattress sagged down.

"Come, tell Uncle, what's your name?"

Natsume Rinku looked at the approaching greasy face, tears blurring her vision, and she trembled timidly: "I... I'm Natsume Rinku."

"Natsume Rinku?"

The man savored the name, his eyes growing brighter. 𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

"That's a really good name, it sounds as clean as the sky."

He reached out, his fingertips tracing the girl's trembling silhouette in the air.

"You see, this is a very good start."

Natsume Rinku nodded obediently, her body already retreated to the dead corner of the headboard, with nowhere left to go.

The excitement in the middle-aged man's eyes almost overflowed, and his breathing became rapid and heavy.

"Young Miss Rinku, you truly are a delicate flower bud untouched by dust."

"As long as you're obedient, Uncle will treat you well, buy you new clothes, give you delicious food..."

As the middle-aged man spoke, his large, hairy hand already caressed Natsume Rinku's slender back.

An inexplicable terror surged into Takeda Masao's heart, instantly washing away the last vestiges of his drunkenness.

He stared intently at the "Natsume Masahiro" before him.

That face was undeniably familiar, the timid, yellow-haired youth he knew so well.

Yet, at this moment, it gave him an unprecedented sense of unfamiliarity.

The state the other party displayed, that aura of disregard for life, was completely different from the Natsume Masahiro he knew before.

Takeda Masao suddenly realized.

"You... you're not Natsume Masahiro! Who exactly are you?!"

Facing Takeda Masao's questioning, Zhou Huai merely gave him a faint glance.

He couldn't be bothered to explain anything to these soon-to-be-dead pieces of trash.

For Zhou Huai, his infiltration had only one principle of action.

Since it was an infiltration, he had to perfectly maintain his persona.

Whoever broke their persona, he would break them.

As long as all those in the know were dead.

Then his persona had not been broken.

A logical closed-loop, flawless.

"Who I am isn't important."

Zhou Huai's voice was chillingly calm; he slowly raised his right hand and snapped his fingers crisply.

"What's important is, it's time for you to go."

As for Natsume Rinku's whereabouts, Zhou Huai didn't need to waste words interrogating them.

In his mental perception network, the signal source representing the Parasite within Natsume Rinku was now as clear as a lighthouse in the dark night.

The location was on the top floor of this Palace of Ultimate Bliss.

The next second.

"Buzz—!!!"

A dense, hair-raising sound of buzzing wings erupted without warning in the small space of the private room.

Countless black specks, like a bursting dam, surged frantically from Zhou Huai's sleeves, collar, and even the shadows beneath his feet.

Those were thousands of Soldier Beetles!

They were not the Shadow Demon Worms used for self-detonation before, but Caesar's sharpest and most brutal eating machines!

Each Soldier Beetle was only the size of a fingernail, but their metallic-sheened mandibles were sharp enough to bite through steel.

"Ah—! What are these things?!"

"Bugs! So many bugs!"

The private room instantly descended into chaos.

Takeda Masao and his subordinates screamed in terror, instinctively wanting to escape or pull out their weapons to resist.

The skinny subordinate who had just tried to make a move had only just condensed a faint fireball in his palm.

Zhou Huai's mind stirred.

The xenomorphic parasites lurking within them instantly attacked!

"Ugh ah!"

Their bodies stiffened abruptly, and their eyes instantly became hollow and vacant.

The Parasites inside them forcibly severed their brains' control over their bodies, freezing them in place like stiff sculptures.

They could only watch helplessly as the black tide of insects, like a black tsunami, instantly engulfed them.

"Buzz buzz buzz—"

A teeth-grinding gnawing sound arose; it was the sound of countless sharp teeth chewing flesh and grinding bones.

Compared to the Shadow Demon Worms, Caesar's Soldier Beetles were many times more efficient in terms of "cleanup."

This was an extremely terrifying form of torture.

Takeda Masao's eyes widened in horror; he clearly felt hundreds of thousands of beetles crawling all over his corpulent body.

Intense pain?

No, there wasn't even time to feel intense pain.

It was the numbness of nerves being instantly devoured.

He watched his arm, the layers of greasy fat disappearing at a visible rate under the black swarm of insects, revealing stark white bones, and then even the bones were bitten and swallowed by those greedy mandibles.

"Help... help me..."

He tried to let out one last wail, but a Soldier Beetle instantly burrowed into his mouth, biting off his tongue.

In just a few breaths.

The private room returned to silence.

The once arrogant Takeda Masao and his boisterous subordinates had now completely vanished from this world.

Not even a single strand of hair or a speck of bone remained.

Even the blood splattered on the floor and sofa was licked clean by the still-hungry Soldier Beetles.

This was the horror of the "Swarm Calamity."

Where they passed, not a blade of grass grew.

"Ah—!!! Murder!!!"

The dancers huddled in the corner had witnessed this terrifying, Hell-like scene with their own eyes.

They could no longer control their inner fear, letting out ear-piercing screams and rushing madly towards the private room door.

Zhou Huai frowned slightly.

He turned his head, looking at their panicked retreating figures, his eyes devoid of any ripple.

"My apologies."

"You are also in the know."

He looked at these trembling women, a hint of regret flashing in his eyes.

"Although you are innocent."

"It's just that you have bad luck."

Zhou Huai never considered himself a bleeding heart.

In such a high-risk environment, infiltrating enemy territory, any bit of mercy could become the grave that buried him.

"Buzz—"

The swarm, hovering in mid-air, moved again.

They were like black reapers' scythes, mercilessly harvesting the remaining lives.

The screams abruptly ceased.

Just a few seconds later.

The entire private room completely returned to calm.

At the same time.

Top floor of the Palace of Ultimate Bliss.

Natsume Rinku was roughly thrown onto the circular bed, large enough for five or six people, by a middle-aged man.

The soft down comforter made her body bounce once, then sink into it. A great fear, like a cold hand, clutched her heart tightly.

Natsume Rinku wept, her delicate shoulders trembling violently.

"Please... please let me go..."

She curled up, desperately retreating to the corner of the bed, her voice full of desperate pleas.

By the bed, the middle-aged man in a silk bathrobe unhurriedly untied his belt, licked his chapped lips, his eyes burning with murky and naked desire.

He chuckled, the fat on his face jiggling: "Let you go?"

"Little one, I spent 200,000 Sakura Coins, real money, to buy you."

The man approached step by step, like a fat cat toying with a mouse.

"Don't worry, you're so cute, I wouldn't hurt you."

He sat on the edge of the bed, and the mattress sagged down.

"Come, tell Uncle, what's your name?"

Natsume Rinku looked at the approaching greasy face, tears blurring her vision, and she trembled timidly: "I... I'm Natsume Rinku."

"Natsume Rinku?"

The man savored the name, his eyes growing brighter.

"That's a really good name, it sounds as clean as the sky."

He reached out, his fingertips tracing the girl's trembling silhouette in the /N_o_v_e_l_i_g_h_t/ air.

"You see, this is a very good start."

Natsume Rinku nodded obediently, her body already retreated to the dead corner of the headboard, with nowhere left to go.

The excitement in the middle-aged man's eyes almost overflowed, and his breathing became rapid and heavy.

"Young Miss Rinku, you truly are a delicate flower bud untouched by dust."

"As long as you're obedient, Uncle will treat you well, buy you new clothes, give you delicious food..."

As the middle-aged man spoke, his large, hairy hand already caressed Natsume Rinku's slender back.